Moving Up

January 19, 1986|By Joe Kilsheimer and Lynn Phillips

Housing affordability is measured by comparing average mortgage payments in a given market with the average median household income. Normally, when mortgage rates go down, real estate analysts expect affordability to go up. But that didn't happen in 1985, according to a study by The Lomas & Nettleton Co., the nation's largest mortgage banker. As interest rates fell last year, home buyers opted for larger houses instead of smaller mortgage payments. Nationally, the average mortgage payment was $865 a month, compared with $845 in 1984. The survey attributed the trend to growing numbers of move-up buyers -- people buying a larger house -- in the market. The survey also ranked 26 U.S. housing markets according to their affordability level. Although Central Florida wasn't included in the survey, it did rank the Tampa-St. Petersburg and Miami-Fort Lauderdale area as among the eight most affordable in the country.